successors, shall be and are hereby freed and discharged during the said term from the said inland duty. CHAPTER 2 And it is hereby further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that for and during the like space of five years, to be computed from the fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty- seven, there shall be drawn back and allowed for all teas exported from this kingdom as merchandise to Ireland, or any of the British colonies or plantations in America, the whole duties of customs payable upon the importation of such teas; which drawback or al lowance, with respect to such teas as shall be exported to Ireland, shall be made to the exporter in such manner, and under such rules, regulations, securities, penalties, and forfeitures, as any drawback or allowance is now payable out of the duty of customs upon the exportation of foreign goods to Ireland; and with respect to such teas as shall be exported to the British colonies and plantations in America, the said drawback or allowance shall be made in such manner, and under such rules, regulations, penalties, and forfeitures, as any drawback or allowance payable out of the duty of customs upon foreign goods exported to foreign parts was, could, or might be made before the passing of this act (except in such cases as are otherwise provided for by this act). CHAPTER 3 Provided always, and it is hereby enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the drawback allowed by this act shall not be paid or allowed for any teas which shall not be exported directly from the warehouse or warehouses wherein the same shall be lodged, pursuant to the directions of an act made in the tenth year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the First. CHAPTER 4 And, for making good any diminution which may happe n in the revenues of customs and excise by the discontinuance of the said duty and the allowance of the said drawback during the term aforesaid, be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that on or before the first day of September, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight, and on or before the first day of September in each of the four succeeding years, a true and exact account shall be taken, slated, and made up by the proper officers of the customs and excise, respectively, of the net produce of all the duties of customs for and in respect of teas sold by the said company, or their successors, and also of the net produce of the duties of excise upon teas cleared out of the warehouses belonging to the said company, or their successors, within the year, ending the fifth day of July immediately preceding the taking, stating, and making up, such account; and that a sum, which shall be equal to the annual net produce of the duties of customs paid up on the importation of teas which were exported to Ireland and the British colonies and plantations in America, upon an average for five years preceding the fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven, shall be deducted from the total of the net produce, so stated, of the said duties of customs and excise in the said account, for the year ending the said fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight, and for each of the said four succeeding years, respectively; and if, after such deduction shall have been made, the remaining sum shall not amount to such a sum as shall be equal to the annual net produce of all the duties of customs for and in respect of teas sold by the said company; and also to the annual net produce of the duties of excise upon teas cleared out of the warehouses of the said company on an average for five years preceding the said fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven; then, and in every such case, from time to time, as often as such case shall so happen, the said company, or their successors, within forty days after a copy of such yearly account respectively shall have been delivered to their chairman, deputy chairman, secretary, cashier, or accomptant [accountant] general shall advance and pay, for every such year, respectively, into the receipt of his Majesty’s exchequer, for his Majesty’s use, such sum of money as shall, with the monies remaining in such respective annual account after the deduc- tion aforesaid shall have been made, amount to such a sum as shall be equal to the annual net produce of all the said duties of customs and excise upon teas, on the said average of five years preceding the said fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven; so as the money to be paid by the said company, or their successors, in pursuance of this act, shall not, in any one of the said five years, exceed such a sum as shall be equal to the annual net GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 76 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION TOWNSHEND ACTS amount of the said inland duty of one shilling per pound weight upon teas cleared from the warehouses of the said company for consump- tion within Great Britain; and also to the annual net amount of the duties of customs paid on the importation of teas which were exported to Ireland and the British colonies and plantations in America upon an average for five years preceding the said fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-se ven. CHAPTER 5 And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that in case the said united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, or their successors, shall make failure in any of the payments hereby directed, required, or appointed to be made into the receipt of his Majesty’s exchequer, in the manner, or on or before the respective times herein before limited or appointed for that purpose; that then, from time to time, as often as such case shall so happen, the money, whereof such failure in payment shall be made, shall and may be recovered to his Majesty’s use, by action of debt, or upon the case, bill, suit, or information, in any of his Majesty’s courts of record at Westminster; wherein no essoin, protection, privilege, or wager of law shall be allowed, or any more than one impar- lance; in which action, bill, suit, or information, it shall be lawful to declare that the said united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, or their successors, are indebted to his Majesty the monies of which they shall have made default in payment, according to the form of this statute, and have not paid the same, which shall be sufficient; and in or upon such action, bill, suit, or information, there shall be further recovered to his Majesty’s use, against the said united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, or their successors, damages, after the rate of twelve pounds per centum per annum, for the respective monies so unpaid, contrary to this act, together with full costs of suit; and the saidunitedcompany, and their successors, and all their stock, funds, and all other their estate and property whatsoever and wheresoever shall be and are hereby made subject and liable to the payment of such monies, damages, and costs. CHAPTER 6 And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all the monies which shall be paid into the receipt of his Majesty’s exchequer in pursuance of this act shall be applied to such uses and purposes, and in such proportions, as the present duties on teas are now made applicable. CHAPTER 7 And whereas by an act made in the twenty-first year of the reign of his late Majesty, entitled, An act for permitting tea to be exported to Ireland, and his Majesty’s plantations in America, without paying the inland duties charged thereupon by an act of the eighteenth year of his present Majesty’s reign; and for enlarging the time for some of the payments to be made on the subscription of six millions three hundred thousand pounds, by virtue of an act of this session of Parliament, it is enacted, that from and after the first day of June, one thousand seven hundred and forty- eight, no tea should be exported to the kingdom of Ireland, or to any of his Majesty’s plantations in America, in any chest, cask, tub, or package whatsoever, other than that in which it was originally imported into Great Britain, nor in any less quantities than in the entire lot or lots in which the same was sold at the sale of the said united company, under the penalty of the forfeiture of such tea and the package contain- ing the same; and whereas the prohibiting the exportation of tea in any less quantity than one entire lot has been very inconvenient to merchants and traders and tends to discourage the exportation of tea to Ireland, and the said colonies; be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty- seven, the said recited clause shall be, and is hereby, repealed. CHAPTER 8 And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the said fifth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty- seven, no tea shall be exported to the kingdom of Ireland, or to any of his Majesty’s plantations in America, in any chest, cask, tub, or package whatsoever other than that in which it was originally imported into Great Britain; nor in any less quantity than the whole and entire quantity contained in any chest, cask, tub, or package in which the same was sold at the public sale of the united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies; under the penalty of the forfeiture of such tea, and the package containing the same, which shall and GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 77 CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION TOWNSHEND ACTS may be seized by any officer of the customs; and such forfeiture shall be recovered and applied in such and the same manner, as any of the penalties or forfeitures mentioned in the said act, made in the twenty-first year of the reign of his late Majesty, are thereby directed to be recovered and applied; and all tea exported under the authority of this act is hereby freed and discharged from the payment of the inland duties of excise, in such and the same manner, and shall be subject to the same rules and regulations, as are mentioned, appointed, and prescribed by the said act, in relation to tea exported by virtue thereof. CHAPTER 9 And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, that from and after the twenty-fourth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven, all teas which shall be seized and condemned for being illegally imported, or for any other cause, shall not be sold for consumption within this kingdom, but shall be exported to Ireland, or to the British colonies in America; and that no such teas, after the sale thereof, shall be delivered out of any warehouse belonging to his Majesty, otherwise than for exportation as aforesaid, or be exported in any package containing a less quan- tity than fifty pounds weight; which exportation shall be made in like manner, and under the same rules, regulations, penalties, and forfeitures, except in respect to the allowance of any draw- back, as are by this act prescribed, appointed, and inflicted in relation to the exportation of teas sold by the said company; and upon the like bond and security as is required by the said act made in the twenty-first year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Second, to be approved of by the commissioners of the customs or excise in England for the time being, or any three of them, respectively, or by such person or persons as they shall respectively appoint for that purpose. CHAPTER 10 And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that if any action or suit shall be commenced against any person or persons for anything by him or them done or executed in pursuance of this act, the defendant or defen- dants in such action or suit shall and may plead the general issue, and give this act, and the special matter, in evidence, at any trial to be had thereupon; and that the same was done in pursuance and by the authority of this act; and if afterwards a verdict shall pass for the defendant or defendants, or the plaintiff or plaintiffs shall become nonsuited, or discontinue his, her, or theiractionorprosecution,orjudgmentshallbe given against him, her or them, upon demurrer, or otherwise, then such defendant or defendants shall have treble costs awarded to him or them against such plaintiff or plaintiffs. Source: Danby Pickering, ed., The Statutes at Large from Magna Carta to the End of the Eleventh Parliament of Great Britain, Anno 1761: Continued, vol. 27 (1768), pp. 505–512. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 78 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION TOWNSHEND ACTS Conflict and Revolution Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms A declaration by the representatives of the united colonies of North America, now met in Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms F ollowing the outbreak of hostilities in Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts, in April 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. The Congress created the Continental Army, appointed GEORGE WASHING- TON commander, and, on July 8, adopted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms. JOHN DICKINSON, a delegate from Pennsylva- nia, was the principal author of the declaration. Although the declaration describes the actions by the British government that had angered the colonists and justifies the need to resist the British with arms, it does not proclaim a desire to break with the mother country. Instead the declaration expresses the need to conserve old liberties and the old order “in defence of the freedom that is our birth right and which we ever enjoyed until the late violation of it.” k Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms If it was possible for men, w ho exercise their reason to believe, that the divine Author of our existence intended a part of the human race to hold an absolute prop erty in, and an un- bounded power over others, marked out by his infinite goodness and wisdom, as the objec ts of a legal domination never rightfully resistible, however severe and oppressive, the inhabitants of these colonies might at least require from the parliament of Grea t-Britain some evidence, that this dreadful authority over them, has been granted to that body. But a reverence for our Creator, principles of humanity, and the dictates of common sense, must convince all those who reflect upon the subject, that government was instituted to promote the welfare of mankind, and ought to be administered for the attainment of that end. The legislature of Great-Britain, however, stimulated by an inordinate passion for a power not only unjustifiable, but which they know to be peculiarly reprobated by the very constitution of that kingdom, and desparate of success in any mode of contest, where regard should be had to truth, law, or right, have at length, deserting those, attempted to effect their cruel and impolitic purpose of enslaving these colonies by violence, and have thereby rendered it necessary for us to close with their last appeal from reason to arms. Yet, however blinded that assembly may be, by their intemperate rage for unlimited domination, so to sight justice and the opinion of mankind, we esteem ourselves bound by obligations of respect to the rest of the world, to make known the justice of our cause. Our forefathers, inhabitants of the island of Great-Britain, left their native land, to seek on these shores a residence for civil and religious freedom. At the expense of their blood, at the hazard of their fortunes, without the least charge to the country from which they removed, by unceasing labour, and an unconquerable spirit, they effected settlements in the distant and unhospitable wilds of America, then filled with numerous and warlike barbarians.—Societies or governments, vested with perfect legislatures, 79 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW were formed under charters from the crown, and an harmonious intercourse was established between the colonies and the kingdom from which they derived their origin. The mutual benefits of this union became in a short time so extraordinary, as to excite astonishment. It is universally confessed, that the amazing increase of the wealth, strength, and navigation of the realm, arose from this source; and the minister, who so wisely and successfully directed the measures of Great-Britain in the late war, publicly declared, that these colonies enabled her to triumph over her enemies.—Towards the conclusion of that war, it pleased our sovereign to make a change in his counsels.—From that fatal movement, the affairs of the British empire began to fall into confusion, and gradually sliding from the summit of glorious prosperity, to which they had been advanced by the virtues and abilities of one man, are at length distracted by the convulsions, that now shake it to its deepest foundations.—The new ministry finding the brave foes of Britain, though frequently defeated, yet still contending, took up the unfortunate idea of granting them a hasty peace, and then subduing her faithful friends. These colonies were judged to be in such a state, as to present victories without bloodshed, and all the easy emoluments of statuteable plunder.—The uninterrupted tenor of their peaceable and respectful behaviour from the beginning of colonization, their dutiful, zealous, and useful services during the war, though so recently and amply acknowledged in the most honourable manner by his majesty, by the late king, and by parliament, could not save them from the meditated innovations.—Parliament was influenced to adopt the pernicious project, and assuming a new power over them, have in the course of eleven years, given such decisive specimens of the spirit and consequences attending this power, as to leave no doubt concerning the effects of acquiescence under it. They have undertaken to give and grant our money without our consent, though we have ever exer cised an exclusive right to dispose of our own property; statutes have been passed for extending the jurisdiction of courts of admiralty and vice-admiralty beyond their ancient limits; for depriving us of the accustomed and inestimable privilege of trial by jury, in cases affecting both life and property; for suspending the legislature of one of the colonies; for interdicting all commerce to the capital of another; and for altering fundamentally the form of government established by charter, and secured by acts of its own legislature solemnly confirmed by the crown; for exempting the “murderers” of colonists from legal trial, and in effect, from punishment; for erecting in a neighbouring province, acquired by the joint arms of Great-Britain and America, a despotism dangerous to our very existence; and for quartering soldiers upon the colonists in time of profound peace. It has also been resolved in parliament, that colonists charged with com- mitting certain offences, shall be transported to England to be tried. But why should we enumerate our injuries in detail? By one statute it is declared, that parliament can “of right make laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever.” What is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power? Not a single man of those who assume it, is chosen by us; or is subject to our control or influence; but, on the contrary, they are all of them exempt from the operation of such laws, and an American revenue, if not diverted from the ostensible purposes for which it is raised, would actually lighten their own burdens in proportion, as they increase ours. We saw the misery to which such despotism would reduce us. We for ten years incessantly and ineffectually besieged the throne as supplicants; we reasoned, we remonstrated with parliament, in the most mild and decent language. Administration sensible that we should regard these oppressive measures as freemen ought to do, sent over fleets and armies to enforce them. The indignation of the Americans was roused, it is true; but it was the indignation of a virtuous, loyal, and affectionate people. A Congress of delegates from the United Colonies was assembled at Philadelphia, on the fifth day of last September. We resolved again to offer an humble and dutiful petition to the King, and also addressed our fellow-subjects of Great-Britain. We have pursued every tem- perate, every respectful measure; we have even proceeded to break off our commercial inter- course with our fellow-subjects, as the last peaceable admonition, that our attachment to no nation upon earth should supplant our attachment to li berty.—This, we flattered o ur- selves, was the ultimate step of the controversy: but subsequent events have shewn, how vain was this hope of finding moderation in our enemies. Several threatening expressions against the colonies were inserted in his majesty’s speech; GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 80 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION DECLARATION OF THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY OF TAKING UP ARMS our petition, tho’ we were told it was a decent one, and that his majesty had been pleased to receive it graciously, and to promise laying it before his parliament, was huddled into both houses among a bundle of American papers, and there neglected. The lords and commons in their address, in the month of February, said, that “a rebellion at that time actually existed within the province of Massachusetts-Bay; and that those concerned with it, had been counte- nanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements, entered into by his majesty’s subjects in several of the other colonies; and therefore they besought his majesty, that he would take the most effectual measures to inforce due obediance to the laws and authority of the supreme legislature.”—Soon after, the commer- cial intercours e of whole colonies, with foreign countries, and with each other, was cut off by an act of parliament; by another several of them were intirely prohibited from the fisheries in the seas near their coasts, on which they always depended for their sustenance; and large rein- forcements of ships and troops were immedi- ately sent over to general Gage. Fruitless were all the entreaties, arguments, and eloquence of an illustrious band of the most distinguished peers, and commoners, who nobly and strenuously asserted the justice of our cause, to stay, or even to mitigate the heedless fury with which these accumulated and unex- ampled outrages were hurried on.—equally fruitless was the interference of the city of London, of Bristol, and many other respectable towns in our favor. Parliament adopted an insidious manoeuvre calculated to divide us, to establish a perpetual auction of taxations where colony should bid against colony, all of them uninformed what ransom would redeem their lives; and thus to extort from us, at the point of the bayonet, the unknown sums that should be sufficient to gratify, if possible to gratify, ministerial rapacity, with the miserable indul- gence left to us of raising, in our own mode, the prescribed tribute. What terms more rigid and humiliating could have been dictated by re- morseless victors to conquered ene mies? in our circumstances to accept them, would be to deserve them. Soon after the intelligence of these proceed- ings arrived on this continent, general Gage, who in the course of the last year had taken possession of the town of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts-Bay, and still occupied in it a garrison, on the 19th day of April, sent out from that place a large detach- ment of his army, who made an unprovoked assault on the inhabitants of the said province, at the town of Lexington, as appears by the affidavits of a great number of persons, some of whom were officers and soldiers of that detachment, murdered eight of the inhabitants, and w ounded many others. From thence the troops proceeded in w arlike array to the town of Concord, where they set upon another party of the inhabitants of the same province, killing several and wounding more, until compelled to retreat by the country people suddenly assem- bled to repel this cruel aggression. Hostilities, thus commenced by the British troops, have been since prosecuted by them without regard to faith or reputation.—The inhabitants of Boston being confined within that town by the general their governor, and having, in order to procure their dismission, entered into a treaty with him, it was stipulated that the said inhabi- tants having deposited their arms with their own magistrate, should have liberty to depart, taking with them their other effects. They accordingly delivered up their arms, but in open violation of honour, in defiance of the obligation of treaties, which even savage nations esteemed sacred, the governor ordered the arms deposited as afore- said, that they might be preserved for their owners, to be seized by a body of soldiers; detained the greatest part of the inhabitants in the town, and compelled the few who were permitted to retire, to leave their most valuable effects behind. By this perfi dy wives are separated from their husbands, children from their parents, the aged and the sick from their relations and friends, who wish to attend and comfort them; and those who have been used to live in plenty and even elegance, are reduced to deplorable distress. The general, further emulating his ministe- rial masters, by a proclamation bearing date on the 12th day of June, after venting the grossest falsehoods and calumnies against the good people of these colonies, proceeds to “declare them all, either by name or description, to be rebels and traitors, to supercede the course of the common law, and instead thereof to publish and order the use and exercise of the law martial.”— His troops have butchered our countrymen, have wantonly burnt Charlestown, besides a considerable number of houses in other places; GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 81 CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION DECLARATION OF THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY OF TAKING UP ARMS our ships and vessels are seized; the necessary supplies of provisions are intercepted, and he is exerting his utmost power to spread destruction and devastation around him. We have received certain intelligence, that general Carleton, the governor of Canada, is instigating the people of that province and the Indians to fall upon us; and we have but too much reason to apprehend, that schemes have been formed to excite domestic enemies against us. In brief, a part of these colonies now feel, and all of them are sure of feeling, as far as the vengeance of administration can inflict them, the complicated calamities of fire, sword and famine. We are reduced to the alternative of chusing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force.—The latter is our choice.—We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery.— Honour, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable.— We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favour towards us, that his Providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverence, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolv ed to die freemen rather than to live slaves. Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of our friends and fellow-subjects in any part of the empire, we assure them that we mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored.— Necessity has not yet driven us into that desperate measure, or induced us to excite any other nation to war against them.—We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Grea t-Britain, and establishing independent states. We fight not for glory or for conquest. We exhibit to mankind the remark- able spectacle of a people attacked by unpro- voked enemies, without any imputation or even suspicion of offence. They boast of their privileges and civilization, and yet proffer no milder conditions than servitude or death. In our own native land, in defence of the freedom that is our birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it—for the protection of our property, acquired solely by the honest industry of our fore-fathers and ourselves, against violence actually offered, we have taken up arms. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before. With an humble confidence in the mercies of the supreme and impartial Judge and Ruler of the Universe, we most devoutly i mplore his divine goodness to protect us happily through this great conflict, to dispose our adversaries to reconcilia- tion on reasonable terms, and thereby to relieve the empire from the calamities of civil war. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 82 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION DECLARATION OF THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY OF TAKING UP ARMS Conflict and Revolution Common Sense Thomas Paine, 1776 I n January 1776 THOMAS PAINE published his 50-page pamphlet Common Sense. It called for political independence and the establish- ment of a republican government. The pam- phlet created a sensation, as much for its passionate rhetoric as for its political views. It sold more than 500,000 copies within a few months and is credited with creating the political momentum that led to the issuance of the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE on July 4, 1776. In Common Sense, Paine turned his vitriol on King George III and the institution of the monarchy, calling the king a “royal brute” and a “crowned ruffian.” Insisting that people did not have to live under such a regime, he declared “that in America the law is king.” k Common Sense This is supposing the present race of kings in the world to have had an honorable origin; whereas it is more than probable, that, could we take off the dark covering of antiquity and trace them to their first rise, we should find the first of them nothing better than the principal ruffian of some restless gang; whose savage manners or preeminence in subtility obtained him the title of chief among plunderers: and who by increasing in power and extending his depredations, overawed the quiet and defence- less to purchase their safety by frequent contributions. *** England since the conquest hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger numb er of bad ones; yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honorable one. A French bastard landing with an armed banditti and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it. However it is needless to spend much time in exposing the folly of herditary rights: if there were any so weak as to believe it, let them promiscuously worship the ass and the lion, and welcome. I shall neither copy their humility, nor disturb their devotion. The plain truth is, that the antiquity of English monarchy will not bear looking into. *** In England a king hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which, in plain term s, is to empoverish the nation and set it together by the ears. A pretty business indeed for a man to be allowed eight hundred thousand sterling a year for, and worshipped into the bargain! Of more worth is one honest man to society, and in the sight of God, than all the crowned ruffians that ever lived. *** But where, say some, is the king of America? I’ll tell you, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Great Britain. Yet that we may not appear to be defective even in earthly honors, let a day be solemnly set apart for proclaiming the charter; let it be brought forth placed on the divine law, 83 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW the Word of God; let a crown be placed thereon, by which the world may know, that so far as we approve of monarchy, that in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other. But lest any ill use should afterwards arise, let the crown at the conclusion of the ceremony be demol- ished, and scattered among the people whose right it is. Selections from Common Sense by Thomas Paine. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 84 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION COMMON SENSE Conflict and Revolution Virginia Declaration of Rights T he VIRGINIA DECLARATION OF RIGHTS was adopted by the Virginia colonial consti- tutional co nvention on June 12, 1776. Its 16 sections enumerated specific civil liberties that could not be legitimately taken away by government. Most of the Declaration of Rights was written by GEORGE MASON, a plantation owner, real estate speculator, and neighbor of GEORGE WASHINGTON. A strong believer in human liberty and limited government, Mason crafted a document that guaranteed the citizens of Virginia, upon achiev- ing independence from Great Britain, all the civil liberties they had lost under British rule. The Declaration of Rights enumerates specific civil liberties, including freedom of the press, the free exercise of religion, and the injunction that “no man be deprived of his liberty, except by the law of the land or the judgement of his peers.” Other provisions prohibited excessive bail or cruel and unusual punishments, required authorities to have evidence and good cause before obtaining a search warrant to enter a place, guaranteed the right to trial by jury, and said that a “well regulated militia” sh ould be “under strict subordination” to the civilian government. Many of these provisions were later incorporated into the Bill of Rights. k Virginia Declaration of Rights I That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtain- ing happiness and safety. II That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them. III That government is, or ought to be, instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security of the people, nation, or community; of all the various modes and forms of govern- ment that is best, which is capable of producing the greatest degree of happiness and safety and is most effectually secured against the danger of maladministration; and that, whenever any government shall be found inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable, and indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive to the public weal. IV That no man, or set of men, are entitled to exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from the community, but in consideration of public services; which, not being descendible, neither ought the offices of magistrate, legisla- tor, or judge to be hereditary. 85 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW . number of houses in other places; GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION PRIMARY DOCUMENTS FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW 81 CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION DECLARATION OF THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY OF TAKING. calamities of civil war. GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 82 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION DECLARATION OF THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY OF TAKING. majesty’s speech; GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 3RD E DITION 80 FOUNDATIONS OF U.S. LAW PRIMARY DOCUMENTS CONFLICT AND REVOLUTION DECLARATION OF THE CAUSES AND NECESSITY OF TAKING UP ARMS our